Infectious Diseases


Westco Fruit and Nuts Inc. Added to FDA Peanut Recall List

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to consume any peanuts or peanut-derived products sold by Irvington, New Jersey-based Westco Fruit and Nuts Inc. (Westco/Westcott) due to possible Salmonella contamination. Peanuts in such products may have been distributed by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), which recalled the peanuts because of concern about Salmonella contamination.

Penn Medicine Multi-Pronged Approach Reduces Bloodstream Infections

Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) fell by more than 90 percent during the past three years at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania due to a multi-pronged approach combining leadership initiatives, electronic infection surveillance, checklists to guide line insertion and maintenance, and implementation of the Toyota Production System to encourage best practices in line care.

OSHA Renews Biosafety, Shipbuilding Alliances

Two alliances that have worked well have been extended, the agency announced Monday.

wrist pain, possible evidence of a musculoskeletal disorder

IOM Meeting Seeks Input on Comparative Effectiveness Research

More than 70 public health and health care organizations will be represented at today's IOM public meeting, which is available by phone and online. By June 30, IOM must evaluate the response and recommend how to spend $400 million in stimulus money.

FDA Assesses New Nanotechnology Test to Detect Anthrax

The Food and Drug Administration recently completed a "proof-of-concept" study of a test that quickly and accurately detects the presence of even the smallest amount of the deadly anthrax toxin.

APIC Offers Visitor Tips for Patient Safety

To commemorated Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 8-14), the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has offered some simple tips for visitors to health care facilities to do their part in ensuring patient safety.

Highest Mesothelioma Rate Found for UK Boomer Carpenters

One in 17 British carpenters born in the 1940s will die of the cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

OSHA Clarifies Training Requirements for Tattooists

An explanation of the use and limitations of methods that will prevent or reduce exposure to bloodborne pathogens and OPIM, including appropriate engineering controls, work practices, and personal protective equipment, should be included in the training.



Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Bioethicist to give APIC Conference Keynote Address

Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD, author, director of pediatric neurosurgery, and professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, will deliver the keynote address at the 36th Annual Educational Conference and International Meeting of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), on Monday, June 8 at 9:15 a.m. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The meeting, which runs from June 7-11, is the largest annual gathering of infection preventionists from around the world.

DOL Pays $100 Million in Benefits to Florida Residents

The Department of Labor recently announced that it has paid more than $100 million in compensation and medical benefits to Florida residents under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA).

Lindsay E. Booher, CIH, CSP, AIHA president

AIHA Seeks GAO Study of NIOSH's Rightful Place

Should NIOSH remain within CDC? Should it be part of the Department of Labor? AIHA President Lindsay E. Booher, shown here, asked Sen. Ted Kennedy, the HELP Committee chair, to support a GAO study of the issue.

CDC Publishes Inaugural Emergency Response Report

CDC's Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER) has released its inaugural report on CDC activities in public health emergency preparedness, titled Public Health Preparedness: Strengthening CDC's Emergency Response.

EPA Extends Comment Period for Universal Waste Rule Amendment

The public now has until March 9 to weigh in on the agency's proposal to add hazardous pharmaceutical wastes to the federal universal waste program.

Study: Does Shift Work Cause Certain Cancers?

Does shift work predispose you to cancer by altering the body’s response to hormones? And if so, can a dietary supplement help? Those are the questions researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ)--a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School--hope to answer through a new study, which recently received $600,000 in funding from The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

CDC Study Assesses Genetic Testing's Impact on Health Outcomes

Some genomic tests developed to personalize medical decisions about cancer care are beneficial, while for others the evidence is uncertain and reliance on the test might even lead to poorer medical management of cancer in some cases, according new recommendation statements from an expert panel.

Survey Finds Winter Weather Hospitalizes Thousands, Kills Hundreds

Frigid temperatures, which each year cause hypothermia and other cold-related heath problems, resulted in more than 6,000 hospitalizations and 827 deaths in 2006, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

A Recipe for Food Safety Success

According to a survey conducted by Audits International, when people prepared meals in their own kitchens, they failed to follow food safety and sanitation practices more than 99 percent of the time.

GAO Designates 3 New 'High-Risk' Areas: EPA, FDA, Financial Reg System

In its latest 2009 update for the 111th Congress and President Obama, the agency designated three new high-risk areas, focusing on the U.S. Financial Regulatory System, the FDA's oversight of medical products, and EPA's processes for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals.

Alliance Aims to Boost Safety for Hispanic Workers in Central Florida

The focus of the pact is on reducing construction and general industry hazards, including but not limited to falls, electrical operations, ergonomics, bloodborne pathogens, fire safety, egress/exit routes, and evacuation plans.

CDC Emergency Preparedness Director Now in Charge

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Richard Besser, who headed CDC's public health emergency preparedness and response functions, has been named acting director of the agency in place of Dr. Julie Gerberding.

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